“Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written,
"I believed, and so I spoke," we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing
that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us
with you into his presence.”
(2 Corinthians 4:13-14 ESV)
We live in a society, today, where we’re encouraged to
keep our faith to ourselves. Evangelism
is discouraged and is characterized as intolerance and hate speech. It’s branded in this way because our
intention is that people would turn from their current belief to a faith in
Jesus. Our
intent is that people might turn from their current practices that they might
follow Christ.
Many who profess the name of Christ have bowed to the
pressure. They seek to practice their
faith on their own, and don’t speak of it outside of church or their home. They’ve bought into the lie that we’re to be
accepting of other people. And, because of
this, they allow others to continue along the path to destruction.
Paul, in the above passage, paints a different
picture. He paints a picture that is very
convicting and challenging. He tells us
that his proclamation of the gospel results from his faith.
His hope in Christ, his hope of the resurrection, caused
him to speak out. It caused him to
proclaim this hope to those around him. It
caused him to speak out regardless of the circumstances that he faced (he
references this in verses 7-12).
I find this convicting because it forces me to ask this
question of myself: Does may faith do the same?
Does my hope in Christ cause me to share the gospel with those around
me? And if not, why is this true?
Our faith will naturally lead us to share the gospel with
those around us. Realizing our sin,
realizing the suffering that we deserve, and knowing the sacrifice that Jesus
made on our behalf, how can we not speak out?
This hope implants within us the desire that others might receive the
same blessing as us. It implants within
us the desire that others might receive the forgiveness and salvation that
Christ has provided for them.
This, after all, is God’s desire. We’re told in Scripture that God does not
delight in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). He desires for all to be saved and to come to
the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
Our hope in Christ will cause us to speak out even if it
means suffering on our part. It grants
to us a willingness to suffer for the sake of others. We know that, even if our
very life is demanded of us, no one can take away the salvation that has been
provided for us by the Lord.
If our faith in Christ does not lead us to speak, if it
does not lead us to share the gospel, what does this suggest? What does it tell us about our faith? If we fail to share God’s heart for the lost,
if we are unwilling to carry out the calling he’s entrusted to us, and if we
are not willing to suffer for the sake of those who are perishing, what does
this suggest about our hope?
We must pray, then, that the Lord will work in our
heart. We must pray that he will give to us
a true understanding of what he’s done for us.
We must pray that he will give to us a desire for others to receive the
same grace that’s been provided to us.
We must pray that he will give to us such a great hope that we might be
willing to lay down our life that others might know his salvation.
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